Mid-February to mid-March was an unusual heavy restaurant month for us. We went almost once a week to fairly expensive restaurants, which were:

Rich Table http://richtablesf.com/ within 2 blocks of Market and Van Ness: We ordered the “chef’s pick” of six courses, which, when shared turned out to be 9 courses since the two of us did not have the same courses throughout the meal. The meal was outstanding, with the vegetarian dishes perhaps even more inventive than the non-vegetarian ones, but I recall a silky black cod dish. The least interesting dish was the steak, which was very well prepared, properly rare, but as far as I’m concerned, steak is steak. Total cost was $295 with tip, of which $48 was for 4 glasses of wine.

Volta http://voltasf.com/ : was the least interesting of the four we frequented. The food is very well prepared, but there was absolutely no wow factor for us. Its location is good for those who are downtown. The space is contemporary and noisy. We paid $172 for two, tip included and a shared corkage fee as our friends provided the wine.

La Ciccia http://www.laciccia.com/ : It did not disappoint, we have been there before, except for the fact that the appetizers no longer have meat choices. A friend who stayed with us insisted on taking us out, and this was our choice. She found it wonderful—a different take on Italian food. She paid, so I cannot say what it cost.

Cala http://www.calarestaurant.com/ : This restaurant is in the Civic Center area. We were absolutely delighted with the food, which is perhaps more interesting than Rich Table. It is a seafood restaurant, and I can’t think of one dish which was off. It automatically adds 20% to the bill as a service charge, and the CC bill does not have a line to enter the tip. Our share of the meal cost us $164 with a shared corkage fee—our friends provided the wine.

In order of preference: Cala, Rich Table, La Ciccia, Volta

Thanks -- we'll be there this summer and always good to have recommendations.

Thank you for the info. Volta is part of the Perbacco family and we were interested to find out how it shakes out.

We like Perbacco, and would return there before going back to Volta. BTW, all the restaurants I listed in this posting require reservations.

We actually enjoyed Volta - just the fact that there's something a ittle different on the menu was a big plus. It is a little odd though - as the waiter explained it, it's a "French and Scandinavian menu" not a "French-Scandinavian fusion menu".

We were a little underwhelmed with Volta. We dined there 2 weeks ago. OK - but I would not go back.

Cala had mixed reviews with us & the other couple we regularly dine with (also with us at Volta). My wife loved it - me "less", and the other couple "mixed". I would go back.

La Ciccia, of course, is your hood & our old hood. We've dined there 5-6 times and had some great dished and some rally "bland" dishes. Last time about 3 months ago, was more bland than good. Fun "neighborhood" atmosphere, however.

Have you tried Nico???? You and us spend a lot of time in France, and IMO this is the best French restaurant in The City - after La Folie. Better than Chapeau.

Stu Dudley

Stu,

Thanks for the recommendation. We had a very nice meal at Nico's, but decided that we prefer places like La Ciccia and Cala which might offer something new, even if less well prepared and less dependable. My comment about the the fish dish and the meat dish at Rich Table applies to Nico; the former outstanding, the latter properly prepared and sauced, but not very interesting.